Well as it turns out, yes it can be. Arriving at our villa on the beautiful Greek island of Lefkada last week, we were greeted with a small stock of local goods left for us in the fridge, including a 1.5 litre plastic bottle of wine which was barely distinguishable, at first glance, from the water next to it. Never one to turn down a very cold glass on white wine on a beautiful day, we sampled our wine and were pleasantly surprised. At 11% ABV, the fresh wine was the perfect accompaniment for a relaxing afternoon on day one of a greatly anticipated holiday.

Knowing we would need more supplies, the next day we ‘indulged’ ourselves by trading up to glass bottles, but still of Greek wine, at a cost of Euro 6,50 each. Both the bottles we bought, from a somewhat small selection, turned out to be in poor condition and disappointing. On closer inspection, the small print told us that the wines had been bottled in early 2011. So, back to the plastic 1.5 litre bottle of local wine for us and at Euro 2,50, the bargain of our holiday.

So as it turns out, plastic was best in this case, as the wine was fresher due to the local bottling and the proximity of the producer. We certainly felt good about supporting a local business and somehow our experience seemed more authentic and allowed us to feel like we were being ‘one of the locals’, an important connection that many of us seek whilst on vacation.

And just in case you get to go to Lefkada (which I would highly recommend) the same local island wine is also sold in the restaurants for Euro 7,50 per litre jug. My kind of holiday.